7 Must-Know Facts About Enhanced Campaigns on Google Display Network

The deadline to shift over to the new Google AdWords Enhanced Campaigns is fast approaching (July 22), and many PPC advertisers are looking for help in all aspects of PPC management related to this transition. In particular it might be useful for the Google AdWords Display Network advertiser to have more information and support on the bidding options for Google AdWords Display Enhanced Campaigns. The following is a brief breakdown of some of the basic items you need to be aware of prior to that date.

1. Google has developed powerful new bidding tools for the Google Display Network that allow PPC advertisers more transparency and control over where their advertisements appear.

2. PPC advertisers must select their preferred option for bidding from the new bidding features as a custom bid by the 22nd of July 2013. Otherwise, Google will assume that the PPC advertiser is happy to use the AdWords Suggested Bidding Option and will implement this automatically.

3. A yellow alert message box appears in all the ad groups running on the Google Display Network that still need to have their bidding options upgraded. This helps PPC advertisers ensure that they have made all the necessary updates to all campaigns they are running by the July 22nd deadline.

4. The changes you make to your bidding options are not irreversible. They can be altered and adjusted at any time.

5. Bidding options can be set to “Placements,” to “Display keywords” or to “Display ad group.” PPC management experts can help you decide which kind of bidding option will be best suited to your Google Display Network campaign needs.

6. You can add campaign-wide bid adjustments, which will give you more control over when and where advertisements via the Google Display Network appear. For example, it is possible to set different bidding options for mobile devices, times, days and locations.

7. The minimum bid for Display Network keywords will be $1.

Once the July deadline has passed, and all accounts are transitioned to the new format, PPC advertisers need to remain aware of possible difficulties that may arise. Some could prove to be costly for the PPC advertiser if he or she is not monitoring their Enhanced Campaign bidding strategies closely and carefully enough.

For example, if the PPC advertiser chooses to make use of multiple bid adjustments across managed placements, topics, audiences, and other targeting methods — aiming to gain more control over when and where the advertisements appear — he or she needs to make sure that their Display Network advertising budget is not sucked dry because the target audience of the bid adjustments happen to fit into more than one category. Let’s say, for instance, that a group of Internet users falls into multiple bid adjustment categories (including gender, device, time of day and placement, for instance). Costs incurred from the bid adjustments feature could be difficult for the advertiser to continue to fund. It might even prove to be an unworthy financial investment to keep running bid adjustments.

As the July deadline approaches, PPC advertisers need to be ready to monitor their campaigns more closely than usual and on a case-by-case basis during the early stages of the new Google Display Enhanced Campaigns. Don’t be caught empty-handed without a strategy in place to make the most of Enhanced Campaigns!

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One Comment

R LawrenceJuly 4, 2013 at 8:31 am

David, thanks for the good info. I am a little puzzled though on point 7. In fact I called a Google rep to check it out. She said there is no $1.00 minimum bid for Display Network keywords in Enhanced. Is that a typo?